


Wishes and Smiles

by Dionte



Series: Chosen Week 2018 [1]
Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Childhood, Chosen Week, Depression, Funeral, Gen, Mentions of Blood, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 07:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13313067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dionte/pseuds/Dionte
Summary: A single moment and six simple words changed his life forever. “You should never have been born.”A single moment and the six words she had heard throughout her life suddenly had an entirely new meaning. “We are grateful for the chosen.”For Chosen Week 2018, Day One: Childhood.





	Wishes and Smiles

Zelos felt the thick, warm blood slipping down his cheek, as his mother’s body grew cold above him. He didn’t know how much time passed before the guards lifted his mother from him and a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders. Sebastian said something, but he found himself unable to care, only hearing his mother’s last words in his mind.

 

You should never have been born.

 

It was raining on the day of the funeral, and Sebastian held an umbrella over him. He could hear all the nobles chattering amongst themselves, and even the King was in attendance. Many of them approached him with their condolences, but he wasn’t sure how to respond. Her words still echoed through his ears, and when the Pope approached him and told him that Seles would be under house arrest for the rest of her life for her mother’s crime- he saw those words in the man’s eyes.

 

You should never have been born.

 

When Zelos left the southeastern abbey, he was shaking. He had talked to the church, to the King, and no one would listen to him about letting Seles go. He had told Seles as much, but she was so sad and angry, nothing he could say appeased her. Her mother had been executed, and it was all his fault. Even if Seles hadn’t said it out loud, he knew what she wanted to say. The same words that haunted him since the red snow fell.

 

You should never have been born.

 

Sebastian was the only one who remained with him through it all, but when Zelos looked at him, he wondered if Sebastian was only with him because he was the Chosen. The women who approached and hoped to coddle him, the princess, the King, the pope, everyone- they only cared about the title he was forced into. The Chosen. He saw the fear and pity, jealousy and worry, but not a single one loved him. Not a single one even seemed to like him. So when he thought back on that day, that horrible day that changed everything, he imagined it differently. He wished for one thing that would have changed it all.

 

He wished he was never born.

 

And he smiled to hide it.

 

* * *

 

Colette could only sit there absorbing the information the priests of the temple were telling her. For the longest time she had been looking forward to this day, to learning more about the Chosen’s journey- her journey, her purpose. She was going to die. She had to die for all the bad things to go away. As the priests closed with their finishing prayers she looked at the smiles above her, saying the words she thought she loved. Now she was only afraid.

 

We are grateful for the chosen.

 

When she returned to town, everyone welcomed her, but she felt a new distance between herself and them. She didn’t let what the priests said stop her from laughing and smiling with the villagers. They didn’t know about the journey of regeneration, they were only proud of her. She tried so hard to keep that dark feeling about her death in the back of her mind. It wasn't their fault, even as they mindlessly said the words that chilled her to the core.

 

We are grateful for the chosen.

 

She ran home, shaking and afraid. Her father and her grandmother tried to calm her, but she looked at them, and knew they knew too. She couldn’t leave her house, she couldn’t face her friends, not when they were so happy, so proud of her. Her parents told the new teacher that she was ill, and many gifts were delivered to their house. She stayed in her room, haunted by the words that used to make her feel so happy.

 

We are grateful for the Chosen.

 

Genis and Lloyd were the ones who snapped her out of it. She would always remember Lloyd’s encouragement. That being the Chosen and saving the world was something only she could do. If she thought of her life saving these precious people- the village, her father and grandmother, Genis and Lloyd- suddenly it felt easier. Even if she wasn’t going to be there to watch them grow old and be happy, even if the price for their peace was her life, she would pay it. She just had one wish when they smiled and played together, like everything was normal and she wasn’t going to die.

 

She wished she wasn’t the Chosen.

 

And she smiled to hide it.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been excited for this ever since it was announced on Tumblr. Which, if you are into that, you can find me as: deliberatingdoodles . Hope you have had a wonderful new year thus far!


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